UKGPL Season 26 (2014) Formula Two Trophy - Spa - Mar 2

[GregT]

I watched the server replay too. I had meant to save mine but I always seem to forget. I was curious as to what happened and what I might have done to avoid an accident. There wasn't much I could do. I didn't know what was behind me but I left room on my left in case there was somebody off my left rear. I was afraid to take my eyes off the track, Doni, and Marco. I could have slowed more but don't think I could have slowed enough to go around Doni. Had I tried I'd likely have been rear ended.

The server replay looked a little different than what I actually saw but very close. Does that really happen or am I deluding myself? I know I was sent skyward after the contact but it doesn't show that in the replay. I also noticed that the flagman at Malmedy doesn't seem to wave the flag in the server replay but I thought he flashed it just as I got to him when Boggy was driving away from a spin. He sure didn't give me a good warning.  When I saw the flag during the race I was at the point any sudden change in line, throttle, or brake was going to cause me to wreck. I came over the hill and had the choice to nail Boggy or hit the fence on his left. I bounced off the fence and back into him. Luckily we both appeared to get away without damage.

And I thought events were conspiring against me until I saw what happened to Doni and Clive. That was a very weird collision that flipped Clive. It appeared he had a few feet between him and the other cars.

After thinking about it a bit, I'm a little disappointed I didn't get to challenge the leaders for the win. I ran a higher 5th gear thinking I'd be slipstreaming some. I would have been better off had I left it the same as qualifying. I also need to practice some stop and go's. I didn't do that very quickly. That was the most difficult F2 race for me yet. It wasn't until lap 4 or 5 that I thought I had a chance to finish.

It was still good fun though. I appreciate it guys.

[bernie]

I was having a good battle with Ronnie until Jethro lost it at La Carriére and spun in front of me.  I managed to avoid him but ended up rolling over and needing a shift R.  Lost at lot of places and time but I got going and started to chase down Rog, Bernie and David.  Managed to get on terms and went through Masta side by side on a couple of occasions.  First time was good, second time I got too close to the grass (I was trying to leave plenty of room) and spun out.  Didn't damage the car so I got going again but on the last lap I came across Bernie recovering at Les Combes and I couldn't avoid him.  Took a second shift R which means I'm DQ'ed I'll have to report myself .

Some exciting moments (going through Masta side by side with David was cool) but a disappointing finish in the end. 

Sorry about the roadblock Phil I was following David into the corner , he took a tight line into the corner which caught me out , I had to brake hard to avoid him and lost the rear end causing me to spin , unfortunately  ended up facing the wrong way and having to spin turn to recover .   

will submit my report , sorry to finish your race in this way 

[BadBlood]

Interesting Doni. The pass at Masta that you are talking about surprised me because I expected you to pass on the right so I positioned the car left of centre and then you went for the left. I jinked right in response but you had hit dirt and lost momentum so round we went again. Why not take the right which is the natural line into the kink? I left plenty of room (and lifted) when you passed on the way down to Malmedy. Was not about not sharing the road so I would be interested to see your replay.

Learning opportunity for both of us possibly. I'll take a gander at my own one tonight and compare it to the server replay.

Sad about the warp issues. Not a lot I can do about it as the server itself is definitely blameless - this is definitely internet conditions and not something I can control. I suspect it is something to do with my local exchange which is the last leg for the internet traffic to my server as I have noticed a definite slowing down in Internet response over the last few weeks.

[Billy Nobrakes]

Doni,
Re. our incident on the straight after Masta. the draft on the F2 it was obvious you could get past. I got a bit preoccupied with where your car was, so much so at the point of overtake I realised I was hogging the middle of the track. I didn’t know if you were left or right & so I kept a straight line. That was rather poor awareness on my part. You took the option of going left with your outside wheels on the grass & contact was made when you cut back in (slightly). In summary i don't think either of us were entirely blameless.
Sorry your race was effectively finished. A better outcome for me was to use your tow when you got past.
From the servers perspective my replay didn’t show any warp it was a full wheel to wheel contact.

[maddog]

Sad about the warp issues. Not a lot I can do about it as the server itself is definitely blameless - this is definitely internet conditions and not something I can control . . . .

T7 Server is also troublesome, and perhaps no longer giving it's moneysworth.  I'm not educated in such matters, but if it's routinely accessed by a number of users, and/or multi-purpose, are it's resource being drawn away during our races?  If so, you might request a reminder be sent to all users, to lay off usage on our race nights!  Threaten them with a drivers strike . . . umm, or something! 

[Ronniepeterson]

and just was able to get P3 in front of Ronnie

After a hold up at the start (red zone so the mods can sort that out) I could not quite get back to you guys even though you gave me a chance with your three way scraping.  I saw you spin and recovering at the final corner but was still not close enough to take advantage on the last lap. Besides it would have been cruel if I had stolen your podium spot like that. Grats again to the three of you.

[Doni Yourth]

I'm not saying that I was blameless in the two incidents on the Masta between Billy and Paul.  Timing is everything in a slipstream pass.  It's just that I was closing at a good rate and it was time to make a move.  Of course, I could have lifted altogether and waited but that seemed not very palatable at the time.  I do know that in my imagery, Billy was bouncing around all over the place and a pass might be chancy at best.  I think that Paul sums it best in saying that neither of us was entirely blameless.  Live and learn...

More galling than anything is realizing that the ultimate winner, Marco, got away Scot free from the Eau Rouge shunt.  Sigh...

[Boggy]

No problems Greg shouldn't have spun and become a road block, never got to grips with Malmady

Boggy

[GregT]

No problems Greg shouldn't have spun and become a road block, never got to grips with Malmady

Boggy

That's cool. Stuff happens. If I had a texture of a flagman taking a nap, I'd use it for the guy at Malmedy. Another time he gave me warning and I slowed before entering Malmedy but I never saw another car. I'm still so new to online racing that I've got a lot to learn. A few weeks ago I was still struggling when following another car because of lag. It was so distracting I'd miss my lines and braking points. I'm adjusting to that fairly well. I now back off 2 or 3 meters and ignore most of the car flashing in front of me.

I got to thinking I need to map the F10 key to my wheel. I still don't know how far ahead I need to be in pribluda's distance figures before I can return to the racing line when passing. I could have used F10 in practice to see how the distance figures compare to what is actually happening.

More galling than anything is realizing that the ultimate winner, Marco, got away Scot free from the Eau Rouge shunt.  Sigh...

Marco got lucky. From what I was seeing I thought one or both of you were going off to the left or slide straight forward. I sure didn't expect GPL to pitch you back to the right in front of me. Momentum should have carried you forward instead of abruptly to the right. You should have taken the same line as Arf, Clive, and I did.

It's funny how GPL picks the winners and losers in incidents. Natan made it through unscathed when he very easily could have been wrecked. Dean suffered heavily when it looked like he had as much of a chance to get through as Natan did. Very nice job Arf dodging another bullet. You did exactly what I was hoping to do. My car did more as I would have expected. It slid forward and to the left of the racing line. Clive did a nice job too sticking as close to the right as he could, actually a tiny bit too far to the right.

I would say live and learn but I'd have likely died in an accident like that.

[Phil Thornton]

Sorry about the roadblock Phil I was following David into the corner , he took a tight line into the corner which caught me out , I had to brake hard to avoid him and lost the rear end causing me to spin , unfortunately  ended up facing the wrong way and having to spin turn to recover .   

will submit my report , sorry to finish your race in this way 

No problem Bernie.  I've had to report the incident because it was my second Shift-R (I'd forgotten the rules - inexcusable for a moderator ) and I'm due a DQ.  I don't want Billy to have to trawl through the replay looking for incidents, the moderator's job is hard enough.  Best just to own up and put a book down my trousers!

For the record there wasn't much else you could do.  You were stopped on the racing line and had to move, no point staying where you were and waiting for a gap.  I'd have hit you anyway .

[Doni Yourth]

Yes, I noted from the replays that you were savaged mightily, Greg.  Bad luck there, amigo.  As you mention, Dean, too got pasted.  Frank(and Marco)had the horseshoes.  Interesting to note that sometimes, GPL flagmen hoist the yellow in the section AFTER the cause and not BEFORE.  That kind of help we don't need!   

[Arf Arf Arf]

Edit: I would also like to thank Arf for being 1/100th of a sec faster than me in qually.

My pleasure.... 

[Turkey Machine]

I was having a good battle with Ronnie until Jethro lost it at La Carriére and spun in front of me.  I managed to avoid him but ended up rolling over and needing a shift R.  Lost at lot of places and time but I got going and started to chase down Rog, Bernie and David.  Managed to get on terms and went through Masta side by side on a couple of occasions.  First time was good, second time I got too close to the grass (I was trying to leave plenty of room) and spun out.  Didn't damage the car so I got going again but on the last lap I came across Bernie recovering at Les Combes and I couldn't avoid him.  Took a second shift R which means I'm DQ'ed I'll have to report myself .

Some exciting moments (going through Masta side by side with David was cool) but a disappointing finish in the end. 

Apologies for that one Phil, not a great deal I could do about that as I lost it on the exit of the corner and was a passenger for all to avoid.

Did my own race potential no favours by having a half-spin at La Source at the end of lap 2. It killed any slipstream I might get from the 3 run-away leaders, and forced me further back from them. Turns out I haven't had a competitive and a clean race at Spa, the last time I made (not many) mistakes was in 67s last season, and finished 5th in a BRM 50 seconds down on the winner in an Eagle.

[Robert Fleurke]

Grid A mod report published.

[Cookie]

Grid A mod report published.

Thanks Robert, great job